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Great entries this week, so this was a tough decision. So here we go...
Honourable mentions go out to...
American Knight by Rick Blair
Captain Rushmore by StarkillerRX AND...
Lady Liberty by rekulhs nathe
This week's runner up is...
Veteran by Ubiquitous Pixel - brilliant work - as always.
And the win this week goes to...
Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges
It is with great sadness that we have to mark the passing of one of the giants of the comic book industry. Stan Lee may not have invented the idea of the comic book, started the first comic book publisher or even invented the genre of superheroes, but it is safe to say that the medium we all know and love today would not be the same without him. Born in 1922 (making him age 95 at his passing), Lee started out at Marvel back when it was still known under its first official name, Timely Comics, back in 1939 (the year the company started publishing). He was only an assistant who, in his own words, kept the artists inkwells filled, and got the job because his cousin was the wife of the publisher, Martin Goodman. He didn't even get to write his own stories for the company until 1941 (Captain America Comics #3 "Captain America Foils The Traitors Revenge, a short text filler between main strip stories), but with many of the staff enlisting to fight in the war and Timely's main writing duo (Joe Simon and Jack Kirby) leaving over creative differences with Goodman, Lee was given a shot to show what he had as interim editor at age 18. He stayed as editor until 1972, when he replaced Goodman as publisher.
To summarise Stan Lee's legacy in so few words would be to do him a great injustice. When I say that comics books would not be what they are today without him, it is not an exaggeration. Lee gave the world the Fantastic Four, the Increadible Hulk, Daredevil, the X-Men, Ant-Man (and Wasp), the Mighty Thor, the Invinsible Iron Man, Black Panther and, most famously of all, the Amazing Spider-Man. Unlike the heroes over at Marvel's main rivals DC, Lee made his heroes much more relatable. His teenage superhero wasn't a sidekick who looked up to an older hero and fought bad guys alongside them, he was the main hero and had all the problems that any normal person would have. His superhero teams were a family, who bickered and had problems like any family would have, or were reviled by the world they protected just because of who they were. These heroes weren't perfect, they were human and that's what made them so perfect to the readers. And he gave us legendary villains to battle these heroes, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Loki, Galactus, the Sentinals and many more. His work with other comic book greats, such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita and Don Heck dragged Marvel from near bankruptcy in the 1950's to being equals, if not a bigger name than their rivals DC within a decade, and of course, without the characters Lee created, Marvel wouldn't be in the position it is in today, a multi-media juggernaught with the most successful movie franchise of all time (which of course, Lee would use to indulge in his love of the not so subtle cameo, making him somewhat of a Marvel Movie Where's Waldo/ Wally).
Even well into his elder years, Lee was still a public figure, despite having well earned some peace and quiet. He still attended conventions, cameoed in movies (as previously mentioned) and put his name to tv shows and comic book projects, well into his 90's. Though his last years have been tinged with sadness and controversy (losing his wife in 2017, through allegations of elder abuse and a restraining order filled by Lee against his former business manager which involved the sale of his blood to fans), Lee never looked like slowing down or losing that trademark exuberance.
Rest well Mr Lee, you've earned it.
And one final time I think it's appropriate to say...
Excelsior
Posted in News & Updates
Pack your bags and get ready for a trip around the world over the next few weeks.
Next stop…Scotland!
Your Character Design Challenge thus week is to use HM3 to create a hero inspired by Scotland.
The winner this week will receive a HeroMachine rendering of my version of their winning entry.
Please follow the instructions below regarding the naming of entries.
You may enter up to three times.
Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.
All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, Deviant Art or whatever);Do not use Photobucket.
Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).
This contest will close at noon Eastern on Monday, November 19th.
Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges
Posted in Challenge Prizes, Character Design Challenges
Alternate Title- It’s a Strange World or: How I Learned to Stop Griping and Love the Treadmill
Hey everyone, this is something really different from the usual today. I’ve thought about writing something like this for a little while but I’ve always put it off. Mainly because I didn’t want to come off as some kind of expert who knows what the hell they’re doing (I don’t, really), like I’m proselytizing (I’m not), or that I’m bragging (again, not). I just wanted to write the kind of advice that I myself could’ve used when I started this whole thing: something from a normal person who’s just trying to get in better shape and is honest about the process. So bear with me as I try to muddle through.
Ok guys, this week I want you to come up with the best possible caption for this movie still:
Everyone can have a maximum of 3 entries, entries must be in by next Wednesday (Nov 14th) and All Entries Must Be PG-13
Posted in Caption Challenges
The win this week goes out to StarkillerRX for the sublime Cowboy Ghost/
I fell in love with this the moment I saw it! Well done you!
Your prize will be posted to the blog later this week.
Posted in Uncategorized
Your Character Design Challenge thus week is to use HM3 to create a hero inspired by the USA.
The winner this week will receive a HeroMachine rendering of my version of their winning design.
Please follow the instructions below regarding the naming of entries.
You may enter up to three times.
Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.
All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, Deviant Art or whatever);Do not use Photobucket.
Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).
This contest will close at noon Eastern on Monday, November 12th.
Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges
Comments Off on CDC #386 – Haunted Houses – Prize for Xinmodic
Posted in Uncategorized
Sorry for the late posting but I am currently working on productions of Phantom and Threepenny Opera, so I am just getting around to this when there was a break in the madness.
Anywho....
This week's win goes to Xinmodic. The concept and details are very strong, and the overall piece is impressive in it's use of items and creativity. Well done you!
Your prize will be posted to the blog later thus week.
Posted in Uncategorized
